tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/university-of-the-west-indies-mona-campus-2817/articlesThe University of the West Indies, Mona Campus2018-03-02T11:42:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/918912018-03-02T11:42:41Z2018-03-02T11:42:41ZHow people talk now holds clues about human migration centuries ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208303/original/file-20180228-36680-1gzt1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=349%2C349%2C4132%2C2645&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What can a modern-day Creole language tell us about its first speakers in the 1600s?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paramaribo,_Suriname_(11987836025).jpg">M M</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Often, you can tell where someone grew up by the way they speak.</p>
<p>For example, if someone in the United States doesn’t pronounce the final “r” at the end of “car,” you might think they are from the Boston area, based on sometimes exaggerated stereotypes about American accents and dialects, such as “Pahk the cahr in Hahvahd Yahd.”</p>
<p>Linguists go deeper than the stereotypes, though. They’ve used <a href="http://www.tekstlab.uio.no/cambridge_survey/">large-scale surveys</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html">map out many features of dialects</a>. The more you know about how a person pronounces certain words, the more likely you’ll be able to pinpoint where they are from. For instance, linguists know that dropping the “r” sounds at the end of words is actually common in many English dialects; they can map in space and time how r-dropping is widespread in the London area and has become increasingly common in England over the years. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0055">In a recent study</a>, we applied this concept to a different question: the formation of Creole languages. <a href="https://mona-uwi.academia.edu/ASherriah">As a linguist</a> and a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vwQdgAYAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">biologist who studies cultural evolution</a>, we wanted to see how much information we could glean from a snapshot of how a language exists at one moment in time. Working with linguist <a href="https://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/staff/devonish.htm">Hubert Devonish</a> and psychologist <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/ewart-thomas">Ewart Thomas</a>, could we figure out the language “ingredients” that went into a Creole language, and where these “ingredients” originally came from?</p>
<h2>Mixing languages to make a Creole</h2>
<p>When a <a href="https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/cll.25/main">Creole language forms</a>, it’s generally because <a href="http://www.ello.uos.de/field.php/Sociolinguistics/Theoriesofgenesis">two or more populations come together</a> without a common language to speak. Across history, this was often in the context of colonialism, indentured servitude and slavery. For example, in the U.S., <a href="http://www.afropedea.org/louisiana-creoles-people">Louisiana Creole</a> was formed by speakers of French and several African languages in the French slave colony of Louisiana. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/000000008792525228">As people mix</a>, a new language forms, and often the origins of individual words can be traced back to one of the source languages.</p>
<p>Our idea was that, if specific dialects were common among the migrants, the way they pronounce words might influence the pronunciations in the new Creole language. In other words, if English-derived words in a Creole exhibit r-dropping, we might hypothesize that the English speakers present when the Creole formed also dropped their r’s.</p>
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<p>Following this logic, we examined the pronunciation of Sranan, an English-based Creole still spoken in Suriname. We wanted to see if we could use language clues to identify where in England the original settlers came from. Sranan developed around the mid-17th century, due to contact between speakers of English dialects from England, migrants from elsewhere in Europe (such as Portugal and the Netherlands) and enslaved Africans who spoke a variety of West African languages.</p>
<p>As is the case with most English-based Creoles, the majority of the lexicon is English. Unlike most English Creoles, though, Sranan represents a linguistic fossil of the early colonial English that went into its development. In 1667, soon after Sranan was formed, the English ceded Suriname to the Dutch, and most English speakers moved elsewhere. So the indentured servants and other migrants from England had a brief but strong influence on Sranan.</p>
<h2>Using historical records to check our work</h2>
<p>We asked whether we could use features of Sranan to hypothesize where the English settlers originated and then corroborate these hypotheses via historical records.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208295/original/file-20180228-36700-182it7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208295/original/file-20180228-36700-182it7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
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<span class="caption">The similarity of each English dialect to Sranan. The most similar dialect, Blagdon, is indicated by a red arrow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0055">source</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>First, we compared a set of linguistic features of modern-day Sranan with those of English as spoken in 313 localities across England. We focused on things like the production of “r” sounds after vowels and “h” sounds at the start of words. Since some aspects of English dialects have changed over the last few centuries, we also consulted historical accounts of both English and Sranan.</p>
<p>It turned out that 80 percent of the English features in Sranan could be traced back to regional dialectal features from two distinct locations within England: a cluster of locations near the port of Bristol and a cluster near Essex, in eastern England. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208294/original/file-20180228-36696-1505m3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208294/original/file-20180228-36696-1505m3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
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<span class="caption">Circles represent the origin locations listed in ship records. The area of the circle is proportional to the number of individuals from that location. Bristol is marked by a yellow star, London by a blue star.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0055">source</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Then, we examined archival records such as the <a href="http://www.virtualjamestown.org/indentures/search_indentures.html">Bristol Register of Servants to Foreign Plantations</a> to see if the language clues we’d identified were backed up by historical evidence of migration. Indeed, these boat records indicate that indentured servants departing for English colonies were predominantly from the regions identified by our language analysis.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0055">Our research was proof of concept</a> that we could use modern information to learn more about the linguistic features that went into the formation of a Creole language. We can gain confidence in our conclusions because the historical record backed them up. Language can be a solid clue about the origins and history of human migrations. </p>
<p>We hope to use a similar approach to examine the African languages that have influenced Creole languages, since much less is known about the origins of enslaved people than the European indentured servants. Analyses like these might help us retrace aspects of forced migrations via the slave trade and paint a more complete linguistic picture of Creole formations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91891/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Creanza has received funding from the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Stanford Center for Computational, Evolutionary, and Human Genomics. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>André Ché Sherriah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research suggests that hints left in Creole languages can identify where the original speakers came from – even hundreds of years after they migrated and mixed together.Nicole Creanza, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt UniversityAndré Ché Sherriah, Postdoctoral Associate in Linguistics, University of the West Indies, Mona CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/874822017-11-22T01:46:20Z2017-11-22T01:46:20ZRebuilding the Caribbean will be pricey, but some are vying to finance its recovery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195759/original/file-20171121-6072-at6kae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If Caribbean governments can&#39;t afford to rebuild their islands, maybe big tech firms can?</span> </figcaption></figure><p>November 20 marked the end of the Atlantic hurricane season, but for the Caribbean, it’s only the beginning of a painful recovery process. </p>
<p>In early September, Hurricane Irma largely destroyed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/07/irma-destruction-island-by-island-hurricane">Barbuda and several neighboring Lesser Antilles islands</a>. Two weeks later, Maria took a final fatal stab at <a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/barbuda-one-month-after-hurricane-irma-idUSRTS1FSDD">Barbuda</a> and entirely <a href="https://theconversation.com/puerto-rico-two-months-after-maria-5-essential-reads-87409">knocked out Puerto Rico</a>. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21729007-region-must-adapt-climate-change-not-simply-rebuild-how-hurricane-irma-will-change">The Economist</a>, damage from Irma alone tallies up to US$13 billion. Totals for the entire 2017 hurricane season <a href="https://qz.com/1088762/puerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost/">remain unclear</a>, but Puerto Rico Gov. Roberto Rosello’s recent request for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-assistance/puerto-rico-requests-94-4-billion-from-u-s-congress-for-rebuilding-idUSKBN1DD2G8">$94.4 billion in aid</a> gives some sense of Maria’s toll. </p>
<p>No matter the final price tag, recovery is sure to be unpayable in a region where <a href="http://www.gsdrc.org/document-library/the-challenges-of-poverty-and-social-welfare-in-the-caribbean/">30 percent of people live in poverty</a> and the per capita <a href="http://ivanstat.com/en/gdp/caribbean.html">gross domestic product averages under $9,000 a year</a>, versus <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD">$57,000 in the United States</a>.</p>
<p>And while France, Holland and the United Kingdom have come to the <a href="https://epthinktank.eu/2017/09/21/eu-response-to-the-caribbean-hurricanes/">assistance of their territories</a> in the region, independent Caribbean nations like <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20170929-dominica-rebuild-hurricane-maria-devastation-aid">Dominica</a>, Antigua and Barbuda, and Cuba have no such obvious sponsors. Their economies shattered by storms – and, in some cases, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/irma-imf-barduda-debt-repayments-moratorium-hurricane-caribbean-island-a7941176.html">shackled by debt</a> – some Caribbean nations fear they may never recover. </p>
<p>But behind the scenes, numerous international players are actually racing to rebuild the Caribbean, from tech companies and wealthy individuals to far-flung countries.</p>
<h2>‘Send Tesla’</h2>
<p>Big corporations see an opportunity in the Caribbean’s recovery. Tesla, in particular, seems to have a <a href="https://electrek.co/2017/10/05/elon-musk-tesla-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid-batteries-solar/">vision</a> for how the region could rebuild in a more renewable and resilient way. </p>
<p>As an energy and environment researcher, I’m certain that renewables would make Caribbean islands better able to withstand future storm impacts. Whether Tesla can achieve that is another question. </p>
<p>The California-based electric-car company has committed to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/tesla-is-sending-battery-packs-to-storm-ravaged-puerto-rico">sending to the island hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems</a>, which could be paired with solar panels to get the electric grid up and running again. </p>
<p>For the millions of Puerto Ricans <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/us/puerto-rico-power-outage/index.html">whose power has been out for over two months</a>, this may come as welcome news. And though some experts have questioned <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-solar-microgrids-are-not-a-cure-all-for-puerto-ricos-power-woes-86437">how much it would really help</a>, Tesla did manage to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/25/560045944/tesla-turns-power-back-on-at-childrens-hospital-in-puerto-rico">turn the lights on</a> at the San Juan Children’s Hospital back in October.</p>
<p>Puerto Rico isn’t the only Caribbean country with an inadequate energy grid. Across the region, outmoded system designs that rely on a few plants for power production make complete blackouts much higher than grid systems that have an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/28/storm-driven-power-failures-in-the-caribbean-spur-new-interest-in-renewable-energy/?utm_term=.4ec6f8dd569a">even distribution of power generation</a>. </p>
<p>So even before Irma, Tesla had long seen the Caribbean as a nexus for its energy revolution, with <a href="http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20160708/jamaica-public-service-seeking-forge-deal-tesla-electric-cars">talk</a> of using electric-vehicle batteries to store renewable energy. The idea is that vehicles can charge during the day when the sun is high and winds are stronger, and then owners can sell excess electricity back to the grid when demand is high but supplies are much lower.</p>
<p>Tesla’s desire to power the Caribbean reflects a global energy race as tech companies – among them <a href="http://www.samsungrenewableenergy.ca/">Samsung</a> and <a href="http://www.lg.com/global/business/solar">LG</a> – expand their international reach.</p>
<h2>The benevolent among us</h2>
<p>The British business magnate Sir Richard Branson, who owns a 30-hectare private island in the British Virgin Islands, has also long advocated that the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/02/25/richard-branson-launches-a-green-energy-plan-for-the-caribbean/">Caribbean should shift to clean energy</a>. </p>
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<p>The 2017 hurricane season catalyzed this ambition. After Irma, Branson suggested that rich countries fund a “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climatechange-branson/exclusive-richard-branson-setting-up-green-energy-fund-to-rebuild-caribbean-idUSKCN1BU2I9">Caribbean Marshall Plan</a>” to help islands move beyond fossil fuels toward low-carbon renewable energy sources like solar and wind. </p>
<p>Hurricane Irma left the solar-powered system on his Necker Island, located roughly nine miles from the ravaged Tortola, relatively intact. </p>
<p>Branson isn’t the only international celebrity with a personal stake in rebuilding the Caribbean region. The actor <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-irma-latest-today-robert-de-niro-barbuda-international-aid-rebuilding-caribbean-un-general-a7955501.html">Robert De Niro</a> has also sought to pitch in. </p>
<p>In September, he said he was “saddened to learn of the devastation in Barbuda,” and called on financial institutions and governments to band together and rebuild the demolished island, where De Niro had hoped to build a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/15/news/robert-de-niro-barbuda/index.html">$200 million resort</a>. </p>
<p>Two months later, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/20/the-night-barbuda-died-how-hurricane-irma-created-a-caribbean-ghost-town">Barbuda remains uninhabitable</a>, with nearly its entire population having <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article172111522.html">evacuated</a> to neighboring Antigua and elsewhere. Locals wonder whether Barbuda will ever be home to anyone again, much less the paradise tourist destination De Niro once envisioned. </p>
<h2>The ‘soft’ grip of China</h2>
<p>For China, the crisis in the Caribbean is an opportunity to expand its influence in an area where it already has deep historic and <a href="https://www.aei.org/china-global-investment-tracker/">economic</a> ties. </p>
<p>China’s influence in the Caribbean dates back to Cuba’s <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2128-2_6">1959 revolution</a>, when communism bound the two nations. Back then, China ignored the U.S. economic embargo <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2128-2_6">to help Cuba</a> after a 1963 hurricane.</p>
<p>This economic superpower also came to the assistance of Grenada in 2004, after more than 90 percent of the island was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. The <a href="https://www.caribjournal.com/2013/04/17/china-providing-1-3-million-to-complete-grenada-housing-project/">351 housing units China promised to build for those left homeless by the storm</a> opened in late 2012. </p>
<p>Today, China is reported to have <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/23/c_136630837.htm">offered aid to Cuba after Hurricane Irma</a>. It has also committed <a href="http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/announcements/2017/China-supports-Caribbean-countries-to-build-back-better.html">$5 million</a> for the United Nations Development Program to assist the Caribbean’s storm recovery. </p>
<p>China’s interest in the Caribbean goes beyond disaster aid. During his 2013 visit to Trinidad and Tobago, President Xi Jinping reportedly promised Caribbean nations a total of <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/Staff%20Report_China-Caribbean%20Relations.pdf">$3 billion</a> in loans.</p>
<p>His country has also financed infrastructure and industrial projects across the region. In Jamaica, Chinese state money built the $600 million, 42-mile “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/24/beijing-highway-600m-road-just-the-start-of-chinas-investments-in-caribbean">Beijing Highway</a>” connecting Kingston to the tourist hub of Ocho Rios. China has also invested $3 billion in Jamaican <a href="http://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/infrastructure/chinese-firm-plans-us3bn-expansion-at-jamaica-alumina-plant2/">alumina plants</a>.</p>
<p>This brand of economic diplomacy, which Beijing has also deployed in <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0f534aa4-4549-11e7-8519-9f94ee97d996">Africa</a> and Pakistan, for instance, powerfully strengthens China’s international influence. The U.S. knows that, and <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/Staff%20Report_China-Caribbean%20Relations.pdf">is keeping a close eye</a> on Chinese incursions into its maritime backyard.</p>
<h2>Weighing the costs</h2>
<p>Caribbean governments must now weigh the pros and cons of these different offers. On the one hand, these countries are so devastated that they simply cannot recover without help. </p>
<p>On the other, I’d suggest it’s risky to cede control over your territory by allowing foreign agents to finance rebuilding. China’s project funding in African has been dubbed “<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/why-chinese-infrastructural-loans-in-africa-represent-a-brand-new-type-of-neocolonialism/">neocolonialism</a>,” because while the country studiously avoids political meddling, its money shapes national development to reflect Chinese interests. </p>
<p>Inaction, however, is not an option. A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/21/caribbean-islands-hurricane-irma-maria-puerto-rico">dozen Caribbean countries</a> were hit hard by hurricanes this year, and climate change <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/climate/islands-climate-change-un-bonn.html?_r=0">promises to keep bringing rising seas and stronger, more frequent storms</a>. </p>
<p>Rebuilding smarter is thus a priority for Caribbean nations, all of which signed the <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php">Paris Agreement</a>. That 2015 accord pushes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/climate/islands-climate-change-un-bonn.html?_r=0">wealthier industrialized nations to commit more money to building resilience</a>, but Europe has shown little willingness to comply with that provision and the U.S <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-paris-agreement-us-climate-change-donald-trump-world-country-accord-a8041996.html">is abandoning the entire deal</a>. </p>
<p>Are China, Tesla and Robert De Niro the answer? If the Caribbean can’t save itself, who will?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Masaō Ashtine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tesla, China and Richard Branson are among those offering to help Caribbean nations rebuild – and do so in a greener, more resilient way – after the devastating 2017 hurricane season.Masaō Ashtine, Lecturer in Alternative Energy, University of the West Indies, Mona CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759462017-06-27T18:13:16Z2017-06-27T18:13:16ZImpacts du glyphosate sur la santé et l’environnement, ce que dit la science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175597/original/file-20170626-12696-1f57hnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traitement d’un champ au glyphosate au Royaume-Uni en 2014. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chafermachinery/15415567073/in/photolist-pudP2c-9TJyjM-9TJzoe-ozjfAB-9E6mXS-og4F7L-ptZnEC-oCwybJ-pUoY5Y-9TJyJa-9E3sHP-qaVBo1-oeLF5h-orTMhE-pudZUV-9EiaBp-9TJy5V-thFr2S-9E3fys-domMbu-5osr4e-nixaHL-ptZxbG-k7GU4K-ptZoGC-oCmqDS-q9yAGP-q9yDMr-b7cGjD-b7cFjz-ogNykZ-q9q8Us-qoGDF3-ogwfK6-b7beTr-pudSix-b7bd5a-ptZvcS-pudUoV-nZj1MW-ogwaqD-nZj3qf-b7bffB-oiyUaH-cKkZBo-ogKTD1-ogBY5o-b7bfzp-b7bkHc-b7bnaP">Chafer Machinery/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alors que l’initiative citoyenne européenne « Stop Glyphosate » a réuni le <a href="https://stopglyphosate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/15062017_PR.pdf">15 juin</a> dernier le million de signatures nécessaire pour <a href="https://theconversation.com/roundup-quelles-chances-de-reussite-pour-linitiative-citoyenne-stop-glyphosate-73408">être étudiée</a> par la Commission européenne, les débats se poursuivent dans l’UE au sujet du renouvellement de la licence d’utilisation de cet herbicide chimique. Au cœur des discussions, la question de la dangerosité de ce produit pour la santé et l’environnement. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/weed-killer-ingredient-california-list-cancerous-48293358">Le 26 juin</a> dernier, l’État de Californie a pour sa part tranché en décidant de classer le glyphosate-Roundup comme potentiellement cancérogène.</p>
<p>On connaît le glyphosate depuis le début des années 1970 lorsqu’il fut introduit par Monsanto avec la commercialisation du Roundup. Depuis, d’autres glyphosates sont apparus, portant différents noms et répondant à diverses formules chimiques en fonction des adjuvants utilisés pour les élaborer.</p>
<p>Ces herbicides figurent parmi les <a href="https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-016-0070-0">plus utilisés en agriculture</a>. Les raisons en sont multiples : simplicité d’utilisation, coût modique, action sur certaines voies métaboliques de la croissance des végétaux qui n’existent pas chez les animaux.</p>
<p>Quoique la toxicité des glyphosates <a href="http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html">ne fait pas doute</a>, de nombreuses controverses existent quant au degré de cette toxicité sur les différents organismes vivants et sur l’environnement.</p>
<p>Cette toxicité dépend non seulement du type de la formulation du glyphosate, mais aussi des facteurs environnementaux tels que la température, le pH, la nature et la structure du sol, ainsi que les sédiments en suspension et la concentration en algues alimentaires dans le cas des milieux aquatiques.</p>
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<h2>Quels impacts sur la flore ?</h2>
<p>Le mode d’action des glyphosates consiste à inhiber une voie métabolique spécifique de la croissance des plantes, voie metabolique qui n’existe pas chez les autres organismes vivants, comme les animaux ou les insectes.</p>
<p>Mais ces substances n’affectent pas uniquement les mauvaises herbes contre lesquelles on les utilise. Et l’avis selon lequel les glyphosates sont facilement dégradés et absorbés dans les sols – donc sans effet néfaste sur l’agriculture – <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/3/4/462/htm">est erroné</a>. Des études ont ainsi montré que les glyphosates se trouvent facilement acheminés <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/jxb/eru269">des tiges vers les racines</a> ; ils peuvent de cette façon être stabilisés et affecter négativement les plantes non ciblées par le traitement.</p>
<p>Parmi ces effets négatifs, on note une réduction de l’absorption des éléments nutritifs du sol, comme le manganèse, le zinc, le fer et le bore, éléments connus pour leurs rôles dans les mécanismes de résistance des plantes aux maladies. Par conséquent, en réduisant l’absorption de ces éléments nutritifs, les glyphosates affectent indirectement la résistance des plantes aux maladies, ce qui induit en retour une utilisation plus intense de pesticides.</p>
<h2>Quels impacts sur la faune ?</h2>
<p>Les effets toxiques sur la faune s’avèrent plus importants que sur les plantes.</p>
<p>Des études de toxicité menées sur les rats ont démontré que si le glyphosate-Roundup (le plus connu des glyphosates) n’a pas induit d’effets toxiques visibles sur les femelles en gestation, il a eu un effet négatif <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00204-006-0170-5;http://www.i-sis.org.uk/glyphosate_kills_rat_testis_cells.php">sur la fertilité</a> des mâles, notamment des anomalies au niveau des spermatozoïdes et une baisse de la fertilité.</p>
<p><a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/endanger/litstatus/effects/redleg-frog/glyphosate/determination.pdf">D’autres expérimentations</a>, conduites notamment sur des grenouilles, ont démontré que les adjuvants – c’est-à-dire les composants autres que le principe actif entrant dans la composition du Roundup – avaient des effets négatifs, notamment sur les hormones thyroïdiennes de grenouilles.</p>
<p>On a d’autre part noté un impact plus important des glyphosates <a href="https://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/Hoy_wildlife_2015.pdf">sur les oiseaux sauvages</a> que sur les oiseaux domestiques. Chez ces derniers, le facteur de son accumulation dans l’organisme est relativement faible car ils sont moins directement exposés à ces substances.</p>
<p>Du côté des organismes marins, même s’ils sont moins concernés que les espèces terrestres, de nombreuses études ont rapporté que le glyphosate avait provoqué des lésions du foie et des reins, comme chez le <a href="http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380968357_Ayoola.pdf">tilapia du Nil</a> ; après 96 heures d’exposition à des doses relativement élevées, une mortalité accrue a été observée. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09712119.2015.1031776">D’autres études</a> ont révélé que les glyphosates provoquaient une diminution de certaines fonctions du foie et du métabolisme général.</p>
<h2>Quels impacts sur les sols ?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18161065">Des études</a> ont montré que le glyphosate possède un potentiel perturbateur affectant les microbes du sol. Il faut toutefois souligner que l’absorption, la dégradation et la lixiviation (c’est-à-dire la perte des éléments minéraux par lessivage) des sols causées par les glyphosates varient selon les types de sols ; beaucoup reste encore à comprendre dans ce domaine.</p>
<p>Cette variabilité et cette incertitude rendent très difficile l’établissement d’un tableau clair du devenir des glyphosates dans les sols. Certaines études ont cependant montré que ce dernier varie, certains complexes minéraux du sol retenant davantage les glyphosates que d’autres.</p>
<p>Il faut ici souligner que la matière organique – un des éléments les plus actifs du sol – ne semble pas avoir de capacité à absorber et retenir les glyphosates ; mais elle pourrait jouer un rôle dans ce processus. Même chose pour les éléments nutritifs des sols qui semblent également jouer un rôle réel dans l’<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18161065">absorption des glyphosates</a>.</p>
<p>L’hypothèse de l’implication du phosphate dans ce processus a été avancée, même si certaines contradictions ont été soulignées. Dans certains sols, la désorption du phosphate <a href="http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S0103-90162003000100026">favoriserait la dégradation</a> des glyphosates ; dans d’autres, on note un <a href="https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/13139.pdf">effet contraire, sinon aucun effet</a>.</p>
<p>Ces observations ont amené à classer les sols en deux catégories : ceux qui sont sujets à une compétition entre les glyphosates et le phosphate, avec une préférence pour ce dernier ; ceux possédant des sites spécifiques d’adsorption, en faveur soit des glyphosates ou du phosphate. Par conséquent, un sol riche en phosphate pourrait retenir moins de glyphosates, induisant une plus grande contamination des couches inférieures du sol et des nappes phréatiques ; à l’inverse, la pauvreté des sols en phosphates constituerait un facteur favorisant l’accumulation des glyphosates dans les couches supérieures des sols et donc une plus grande accumulation par les plantes.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.soilassociation.org/media/7202/glyphosate-and-soil-health-full-report.pdf">D’autres études</a> ont montré que les glyphosates utilisés aux doses recommandées en agriculture n’avaient aucun effet négatif sur les populations microbiennes – la flore microbienne représentant l’un des principaux facteurs de dégradation des glyphosates dans les sols – et peu d’effets sur les populations fongiques ; des effets stimulants ont même été observés sur certaines espèces microbiennes.</p>
<h2>Quels impacts pour l’homme ?</h2>
<p>Comme toutes les études de toxicité des produits chimiques, la toxicité des glyphosates sur l’homme a fait l’objet de peu d’études, comparativement à celles menées sur les animaux ; ceci est principalement imputable aux difficultés techniques et éthiques, sans compter bien sûr les contraintes d’ordre financier et commercial.</p>
<p>Même si de nombreuses études ont souvent démontré que les adjuvants utilisés – notamment le polyoxyethyleneamine ou POEA – sont beaucoup plus nocifs que le principe actif des glyphosates, il n’en demeure pas moins que cette catégorie de pesticides <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15862083">représente un danger</a> pour l’environnement et la santé humaine.</p>
<p>Tous les pesticides contiennent des adjuvants ; la toxicité de ces composés ne fait que s’ajouter à <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955666/">celle du principe actif</a>.</p>
<p>Aujourd’hui, si les organismes de régulations considèrent les glyphosates comme non toxiques aux doses recommandées, la communauté scientifique est elle convaincue que ces substances sont toxiques et même cancérogènes, à l’image de nombreux pesticides.</p>
<p>À titre d’exemple, l’Agence internationale pour la recherche sur le cancer (IARC) a <a href="https://www.iarc.fr/fr/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/MonographVolume112.pdf">publié en mars 2015</a> un rapport classant le glyphosate comme « cause probable de cancer chez l’homme », alors que l’Agence européenne de la sécurité alimentaire (EFSA) avait pour sa part <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/press/news/151112">indiqué en novembre</a> de la même année qu’il était peu probable que le Roundup représente un risque cancérogène pour l’homme.</p>
<p>Cette controverse a été attisée en mars 2017 par la décision de l’Agence européenne des produits chimiques (ECHA) de ne pas classer le glyphosate comme produit cancérogène ; à cela s’ajoute le revirement de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé qui en <a href="http://www.who.int/foodsafety/jmprsummary2016.pdf">mai 2016</a> a déclaré le Roundup comme non potentiellement cancérogène alors qu’elle avait dit le contraire quelques mois plus tôt.</p>
<p>Récemment, un groupe de scientifiques <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(15)70134-8/abstract">a publié un commentaire</a> à propos de cette polémique autour du caractère cancérogène ou non du glyphosate. Ces derniers considèrent qu’il est plus approprié et plus rigoureux scientifiquement de considérer ce produit comme cancérogène au vu des évaluation et des données scientifiques portant sur des cas de cancers rapportés chez l’homme et certains animaux en laboratoire.</p>
<p>En se basant sur cette conclusion et en absence de toute preuve du contraire, il apparaît donc raisonnable de conclure que les glyphosates, sous toutes leurs formulations chimiques, doivent être considérés comme potentiellement cancérogènes. </p>
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<p>Il est donc urgent de mener des études beaucoup plus approfondies visant à obtenir des données fiables quant aux effets directs et indirects de ces produits sur les organismes vivants, l’environnement et l’homme. Une urgence dictée par l’utilisation massive de ces substances en agriculture… Il serait malheureux de revivre le <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichlorodiph%C3%A9nyltrichloro%C3%A9thane">drame du DDT</a>, cet insecticide reconnu comme dangereux et interdit dans les années 1970.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75946/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pour ses recherches, Noureddine Benkeblia a reçu des financements de AMEXCID (Mexico). </span></em></p>Que nous disent les travaux scientifiques sur les effets de cet herbicide mondialement utilisé sur la flore, la faune, les sols et la santé humaine ?Noureddine Benkeblia, Professor of Crop Science, Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/730752017-02-21T20:09:22Z2017-02-21T20:09:22ZIn tribute to Peter Abrahams: a champion of pan Africanism and anti-colonialism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157486/original/image-20170220-15931-4pqoql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Peter Abrahams.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">South African History Online</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South African literary icon and Pan-Africanist, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/peter-henry-abrahams">Peter Henry Abrahams</a>, died in his adopted home of Jamaica on January 18 2017. He was 97. The author of some 12 novels, Abrahams was also a stalwart in the anti-colonial struggles dating back to the 1940s. Until the end he remained an acerbic and incisive commentator on global and Pan-African affairs.</p>
<p>He was born to an Ethiopian father and a mixed race South African mother in Vrededorp, a suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a 20-year-old, Abrahams left his birthplace in 1939 after running into trouble with racist police and authorities in his deprived settlement. After an eventful journey by ship, troubled by hostilities during World War 2, he eventually arrived and settled in London, England. There he began a career of activism as a left wing journalist and Pan-Africanist in the 1940s.</p>
<p>Peter, with a natural storytelling talent, had learned writing skills from his mother and from religious mentors who rescued him from further trouble as a militant youth in Vrededorp. These skills and talents were to serve him well during his exile in London and later in Jamaica, where he settled in 1956 with his second wife Daphne.</p>
<h2>First novel</h2>
<p>While in London during his early literary pursuits his first novel, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40238962?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">“Dark Testament”</a>, was published in 1942. His second book <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819636?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">“Song of the City”</a>, published three years later, confirmed him as being among the first successful black South African writers being published in Europe and the West. </p>
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<span class="caption">The cover of ‘Mine Boy’.</span>
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<p>His already prolific writing career next saw the publication of the semi-autobiographical and seminal book <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20109544?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">“Mine Boy”</a> in 1946. It charted the travails of a country youth seeking to survive in the frightening and oppressive environs of big city Johannesburg.</p>
<p>With “Mine Boy” Abrahams became the first author to bring the horrific reality of South Africa’s apartheid system of racial discrimination to international attention. Published two years before Alan Paton’s acclaimed <a href="http://paton.ukzn.ac.za/Collections/Crythebelovedcountry.aspx">“Cry, The Beloved Country”</a>, which also exposed the tragedy of apartheid, “Mine Boy” was also significant because it made Abrahams one of the first black South African authors to become financially successful. With over a dozen books and countless newspaper and magazine articles published, Abrahams has since become established as an authority on the problems of race not only in South Africa, but in the world.</p>
<p>Several other novels were to follow in London, even as Abrahams became more and more engaged in the anti-colonial struggles of the time. He interacted with other political activists such as <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jomo-kenyatta">Jomo Kenyatta</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/president-seretse-khama">Seretse Khama</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/dr-kenneth-kaunda-former-president-zambia-born">Kenneth Kaunda</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/former-tanzanian-president-julius-nyerere-dies">Julius Nyerere</a> and <a href="http://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2010/09/kwame-nkrumah.html">Kwame Nkrumah</a>. Those names now resonate as leaders of the legendary generation of anti-colonial, Pan-African activists who led their respective African countries to political independence. </p>
<p>At this time, his South African compatriots under the leadership of <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nelson-rolihlahla-mandela">Nelson Mandela</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/oliver-reginald-kaizana-tambo">Oliver Tambo</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/walter-ulyate-sisulu">Walter Sisulu</a> and others persevered politically (and in some cases militarily) in the struggle against apartheid. For his part, Abrahams waged a war by wielding a mighty pen. He brought the unfolding racist atrocities in South Africa to the attention of the wider world. This he did through an ever-expanding body of compelling political and literary works, as well as through his intellectual activism.</p>
<p>He played an important role, alongside journalist and Pan Africanist <a href="http://silvertorch.com/about-padmore.html">George Padmore</a> of Trinidad and Tobago, American intellectual and activist <a href="https://donate.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-w.e.b.-dubois">WEB Du Bois</a> and others, in <a href="http://www.marxistsfr.org/archive/padmore/1947/pan-african-congress/index.htm">organising</a> the <a href="http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30/058.html">Fifth Pan-African Congress</a>. Held in Manchester, England in October 1945, the congress was regarded as a unifying event in the multifaceted, disparate, colonial struggle of the time. Abrahams was among the representatives of the African National Congress (ANC). He was elected as chairperson of the movement’s publicity committee, alongside a young Nkrumah.</p>
<h2>Jamaican independence</h2>
<p>By 1956, he accepted an invitation from <a href="http://jis.gov.jm/heroes/norman-washington-manley/">Norman Manley</a>, Premier of Jamaica and leader of the Jamaican independence movement, to provide advice and editorial services in Jamaica and the Caribbean. He soon acquired a hilltop property overlooking the city of Kingston, a home he called Coyaba.</p>
<p>Abrahams became prominent as journalist and radio commentator in Jamaica. He also continued his career as a novelist. Acclaimed books penned in Jamaica were released globally. These included such widely respected works as <a href="http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-61/view-coyaba">“The View from Coyaba”</a> (1985) and his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/994599.The_Coyaba_Chronicles">memoir</a> “The Coyaba Chronicles: Reflections on the Black Experience in the 20th Century” (2000).</p>
<p>Abrahams was to serve Manley’s younger son, Prime Minister <a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Michael-Manley---the-visionary-who-will-never-be">Michael Manley</a>, in the historic social restructuring of the 1970s. This included the engagement of Abrahams as the principal advisor in the government takeover and reform of Jamaica’s leading radio network, Radio Jamaica, from the British Rediffusion Group.</p>
<p>Responding to question I posed to Abrahams in a July 2004 <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02560046.2011.639959">interview</a>, he defended a new model of media ownership he had developed. </p>
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<p>He (Michael Manley) wasn’t quite sure what the model was but he knew it had to be ‘people-based’. So he called me and we had a long session. What the Re-diffusion was saying to him was, ‘all right, you take it over but give us a management contract and so much per annum’. So they would be getting their money anyway. I said to him I don’t think you need to give them a management contract. I am convinced that there are enough Jamaicans who can run this thing without a management contract.</p>
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<p>His model succeeded and is among the seminal achievements in Jamaica of this 5ft 6in (1.52m) <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-278276715/an-interview-with-peter-abrahams-custodian-and-conscience">giant</a> of an intellectual, activist and author. </p>
<p>His passing cannot erase the phenomenal contributions he made to the anti-colonial struggles in Africa and the Caribbean, his scholarly eminence and his seminal leadership of media reform and commentary in Jamaica.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73075/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hopeton Dunn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South African-Jamaican intellectual, activist and author Peter Abrahams died in January 2017. He will be revered for his contributions to the anti-colonial struggles in Africa and the Caribbean.Hopeton Dunn, Professor of Communications Policy and Digital Media, University of the West Indies, Mona CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.